Memory loss and food

Mild lapses in memory are common with age and simple forgetfulness such as forgetting a name or losing objects is relatively benign. The following guidelines detail how diet can impact memory.

• ­Profound memory loss is a universal symptom of dementia or Alzheimer's disease.
• Benign age-related memory loss may result from shrinkage of the brain's nerves, diminished production of brain chemicals, or restricted blood flow to brain tissue.
• Genetic factors, head injuries, viruses and cardiovascular disease may contribute to Alzheimer's disease.

Exercise and a healthy diet can help preserve brain longevity and sustain memory. Protective brain nutrients include complex carbohydrates and B vitamins, which help ensure healthy nerve transmission and sufficient quantities of neurotransmitters.

Eating breakfast can do wonders for your memory, according to researchers from the University of Toronto. The study of healthy men and women, aged 61 to 79, showed that taking in calories from either protein, fat or carbohydrates boosted their performance on memory tests.

Previous research has shown that carbohydrates can fuel memory-based performance, possibly due to the rise in blood sugar provided by carbohydrates. The rise in blood sugar could then increase glucose supply to the brain. But this study showed that any food, regardless of source, can help. While it appears that any breakfast is better than no breakfast, the researchers suggest that carbohydrates still generally give longer-term benefits to memory.

That afternoon coffee break may do more than you think to get you through the day, especially if you are an older adult. Researchers at the University of Arizona found that memory in older people is often at its best in the morning and declines in the afternoon.

When half the seniors in their study drank 355 millilitre (12 ounce) cups of decaffeinated coffee morning and afternoon, their memory performance showed a significant decline from morning to afternoon. The group that drank regular coffee, however, maintained their morning performance levels throughout the afternoon.